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MLB stock report: Pittsburgh Pirates going down

All of those who hopped on the Pittsburgh bandwagon … er, pirate ship … may be abandoning it as the early feel-good story from the Pirates is starting to take on water.

Pittsburgh is 3-7 over their last 10 games and have gone 4-14 over their last 18 games. That 20-8 start and the luster from it is starting to fade.

As our friends at Rum Bunter pointed out in this article, one of the biggest reasons for Pittsburgh’s recent struggles have been losing the close games that they won earlier in the season. In May, the Pirates are 1-7 in games decided by three runs or less. Before the calendar flipped to the current month, Pittsburgh was 12-5 in those situations.

Pittsburgh welcomes in those hot-hitting Rangers for three games beginning on Monday night before leaving on a West Coast swing to Seattle and San Francisco. It’s no exaggeration to say that if the Pirates are going to keep their good vibes afloat, these next three series are truly sink or swim moments.

MLB stock report: Toronto Blue Jays going down

After a testy series against the rival New York Yankees (losing three of four while so much of the focus was on Aaron Judge’s wayward eyes and sticky stuff on the hands of Domingo German), the Blue Jays were flat against the Baltimore Orioles, getting swept to complete a 4-6 homestead. The maddening part for Toronto fans is that three of the four wins came at the start of the homestand when Toronto looked like the team that was advertised at the start of the year to be in contention for the AL East title, sweeping the Atlanta Braves.

However, all of the smiles that came out of the Braves series went away quickly when the Yankees paid a visit. The Orioles swooped in and continued the frustration, and now Toronto faces a tough road test with four games in Tampa Bay followed by three in Minnesota.

As Monday dawns, Toronto sits in the basement of the division, 8.5 games behind the Rays. The opening series in Tampa could set the tone for the road trip and Blue Jays fans are hoping they’ll see a little more from their team as it hopes to cool off Tampa Bay inside Tropicana Field.